Saturday, July 10, 2010

Louis Vuitton lovers - what kind of students are they?

In case you have always wondered, who are those students who love Louis Vuitton so much? Are there profound differences to the average student among elite universities? In the case of Burberry, we can say, no. Burberry lovers blend in. Completely. There was not one statistically significant difference, only that they tend to shop a little bit more often in Ginza than the rest of the crowd. And tend to read more CanCam. But the mighty brand from Paris? Here we see another picture.

Before we go into the details, lets start with the most prominent differences. LV lovers, they tend to value more highly the following brands (in that order): Gucci and Dior, and D&G (who would have thought that?). Brands are rated higher in general, but Samantha Thavasa is rated more highly, too. The brands that are not rated better are Paul Smith, Ralph Lauren, Commes des Garcon and YSL. The only statistical significant difference in where they shop is Shibuya and Shibuya 109. They read more ViVi, CanCam and the other mote-key titles such as JJ and Ray, and also Non-no (+11%). Famous people and celebrities play a stronger role in their opinion formation, and (!) they admit that widespread brand recognition and the fact that everybody has the same brand play a role in their purchase decision of a luxury brand.

When it comes to the way they judge their own personality, they say they judge women by their handbag, they want to be more trendy than the average student, and they value brands highly in general. Ebi-Chan is rated above average, as is the desire to buy more when becoming a working woman.

As Hermes is also rated higher than average, we can see clear status consumption, and aspiration towards celebrities. Further we see gyaru influences, and a fixation on strong and recognizable brands. Are we surprised with the results? D&G did surprise me, actually.

Now, to prove the fact that it actually does not really matter if it is LV or Gucci, the other status brand that you tend to buy in high school when even the most fashion-unconscious girl sitting next to you takes out her brand wallet during class, lets take a look at the differences of Gucci lovers and LV lovers.

It is almost scary. There is no difference. The only apparent visible difference is less Gyaru influence, meaning less fondness for Shibuya 109 and a better average evaluation for Ginza. the choices of magazines are exactly (!) the same. Analyzing the profiles in more detail leaves me with a very vague suspicion that Gucci lovers are from households with a little bit more money and older mothers who tend to shop more in Ginza and Omotesando Hills. The differences are not strong, though.

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